Redemption

People often talk about the streets of gold in heaven or the mansions or even seeing Jesus face to face as what they can’t wait for in Heaven. For me, it’s simpler than that. I want to be stripped of my desire to sin. I want to know that I am no longer capable of causing harm to the name of Christ through my actions, intentions, words, and thoughts. I want to know that I cannot cause harm to the God who saved me – who, upon each and every sin that I now commit, while wholly understanding what Christ had to endure to purchase my salvation, He is made to experience more pain and more suffering in my place because of my own short-term desire for satisfaction. I want to be rid of the “me” that Jesus died to redeem, and finally be able to sit back and revel in the work that He has done on my behalf. I don’t want riches, or crowns, or honor – I want peace. Peace from my self, and peace to finally be able to thank the God who saved me with a clean heart and a clear mind.

As we near Resurrection day, I wanted to post some long and drawn out story about redemption and love. Something akin to a story of God’s great love for us and how we’re so preoccupied with our lives that we don’t even stop to recognize that He’s there – providing our air, food, and shelter for us daily. Then I realized that I had already made on last year and that it’s one that I liked quite a bit. So, on this Good Friday, where we recognize our own sin that nailed our Creator to a tree that He fashioned – to our shame, murdering the God of love – let’s remember that it’s Him who pursues us, and not the other way around. Without further ado, King Solomon had it right:

So… reading through Ecclesiastes and it’s King Solomon basically stating, “I’ve been there, and done that”. Really, who else has had the ability to do so as he did? He had every possible resource at his disposal; The wisest man in all the world. The richest king in all the world. He never had any wars against him throughout his entire kingdom during his whole reign. Even in that he found no lasting pleasure. He had 300 wives, 700 concubines and found no lasting pleasure in that. He built monuments to himself and gardens and wonders the world had not yet seen – some of which are still around today, and he found no lasting pleasure in those either. He sought out the deepest wisdom that he could find and found no lasting pleasure in that. Ultimately, he kept coming back to what I kept going back to – at some point, everyone dies, and all your accomplishments account for nothing. Someone else will own your homes, your possessions will become old and worn down, your discoveries will become passé, and eventually no one will mourn your loss.

The only highlight of the whole book is the last chapter when he finally comes to the understanding that the only constant in all things outside of death is that the Word of God is true and that it is the goal of mankind, not to pursue ungodly desires, but to fear God and keep His commandments and that God’s coming judgment will be the ultimate and only true decider of the worth of one’s life.

It’s too bad he didn’t have the full revelation available to him. Remember that they only had the Old Testament – the law of condemnation and the promise of a Savior to come. Their salvation was based on their adherence to the laws (as best they could muster), their continual sacrifices, and their faith that God would send a Savior who would rid them of the burden of the Mosaic Law.

Then Jesus came, and most rejected Him because they wanted a conquering ruler to crush Rome and place them at the top of their geo-political structure. They had the “wrong Savior” in mind when God’s Savior came. They were guilty of acknowledging God’s choice for them and rejecting it in favor of their own. So then, who is this Savior that God provided?

The Savior the God provided was His Son, Jesus. Jesus was born of a virgin to separate Himself from the sin-drenched seed of Adam. He lived the perfect life that you or I could never live – never, ever sinning. He never had a dirty thought about a girl (or a boy, if you’re wondering), he never lied, never stole anything, never wanted something that belonged to someone else (was completely content in what He had), never was unrighteously angry at someone, and always kept the laws of His religious upbringing. Most importantly, He did all this, not for His own glory, but for the glory of His Father in Heaven. He lived under an oppressive and antagonistic government against His cultural religion, and, even while He was teaching those who were to spread His message among others, He never told them to attack or mistreat the government, but to submit to authority as all authority comes directly from God the Father.

Once it was revealed to those in the religious system who have been looking forward to His coming since that fateful day in Eden when man first rebelled against God, they flatly rejected Him and had Him murdered to shut Him up. It was by God’s sovereign hand that all this took place, so that God’s justice and righteousness over all mankind would prevail. Not because we’re so loving and worthwhile that God can’t keep from doing anything to love on us. God REQUIRES that ALL WHO SIN AGAINST HIM (even those who don’t even understand what “sin” is) MUST BE PUNISHED FOR THEIR CRIMES! ALL! It was by the mercy of God that He opted to act for us – He had no obligation to do so. It was by grace alone that He has sent His Son to take our place on the cross. God chose some out of the billions who will live throughout our history to save from the consequence of their sins through HIS mercy and by HIS grace.

God did not die so that you could be the very best “you” that you could ever be. He did not die so that you can have a Bentley, or a mansion, or a 4 carat rock on your hand. He die so that your race, creed, or political party could be the top ruling party in the world. He did not die so that we would have a moral society that organized walks and marches to combat against the murder of our children in the womb. He did not die to create your brand of church – Southern Baptist Convention, Calvary Chapel, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Sovereign Grace, etc… would exist for all time, and He did not die so that we’d give up a couple of our weekends to feed the poor, or to give our shoes for Haiti.

What Jesus did on the cross was to glorify God by fulfilling His law for His elect. The Church that erupted from that event and from His life and teaching exists to feed the followers of Christ and to encourage discipleship, teaching, worship, prayer, and to prepare evangelists to head out into the world to glorify God through the spreading of the Gospel. What is that Gospel? It’s not social justice, nor is it better legislation, nor is it feeding the poor. The Gospel is that though we are wholly destitute before God and incapable of any transformative ability to save ourselves, that He has accepted Jesus payment for our sin debt against Him on our behalf. What is our responsibility in light of that revelation? Our trust in the work that Jesus has done on the cross has saved us, and that we will abandon all things to follow after Him. Our dreams, our ambitions, our friends, and, in some cases, even our families. There is nothing that can stand between us and our God if we wholly surrender our lives to Him. The hard part of the walk comes in following that commitment.

King Solomon was exactly right – death is the great equalizer. Nothing can save you from it, nor can you keep anything you’ve done once you’ve passed through it. Those that came after him hardened their religious beliefs to follow their own sinful hearts and to cater to their own desires for power and control. They wanted God’s Savior on their terms and, as a result, rejected Jesus – God’s chosen Savior – in favor of their own. The real question is, which Savior do you want today? The Savior that God provided for you, or the Jesus that is your personal conquering ruler, who provides you with the things you want?

“If, then, I believe on Jesus Christ’s name – that is, simply from my heart trust myself with the crucified, but now exalted, Redeemer, I am a member of the family of the Most High. Whatever else I may not have, if I have this, I have the privilege to become a child of God.”